Posted on 01/21/2007 3:54:57 PM PST by blam
Airbus solves A380 wiring glitch
Singapore Airlines has agreed to buy 19 A380s
Airbus has fixed electrical problems related to its A380 superjumbo, which have led to major delivery delays for the planemaker. The group said the news meant it had "passed a major milestone" for the plane's production.
Deliveries to Singapore Airlines, its launch customer, were now on track to arrive in October, it said.
Problems with the A380 have left Airbus two years behind with deliveries, hitting shares at parent company EADS.
"We have finished the electrical installation," said Airbus spokesman Tore Prang. "We have handed the aircraft to the cabin equipment team to install the first A380."
Costly delays
Last week, Airbus chief executive Louis Gallois said the firm was "determined to complete this first delivery in October 2007, as we announced, and to prepare ourselves for the next deliveries in 2008".
Singapore Airlines has agreed to buy 19 A380s from the firm. Other customers include Thai Airways, Virgin and Australian flag-carrier Qantas.
However, delays to the A380 have already cost the firm more than $6bn (£3.3bn) and Airbus has warned there could be additional charges to come.
Last week, the European group also revealed it had fallen behind US rival Boeing in securing orders for the first time since 2000.
Airbus won 824 new orders last year, down from 1,111 in 2005, and below Boeing's 1,050 haul.
UK job worries
Meanwhile, a report in the Financial Times warned that Airbus's manufacturing base in the UK - which employs 13,000 people - could be under threat.
The FT quoted Airbus executive vice president Tom Williams as saying there was "a risk" the company may award a £100m ($197m) contract to make wings for the A350 to rival plants in Germany or Spain.
The fuel-efficient, medium-sized long haul jet is seen as Airbus's direct challenger to Boeing's 787 "Dreamliner".
The Dreamliner is a long-range, midsized, wide-body, twin-engine passenger airliner capable of carrying 200-350 passengers.
zey are just backup systems zat ve, er should i say THEY, don't need anyway... bon.
Now if they can solve the other glitch.
The fact the plane came in several tons overweight than contractually promised.
The FT quoted Airbus executive vice president Tom Williams as saying there was "a risk" the company may award a £100m ($197m) contract to make wings for the A350 to rival plants in Germany or Spain.
translated:
Whichever EU governments gives us billions in no payback loans to develop this plane gets the jobs.
If you want on or off my aerospace ping list, please contact me by Freep mail.
Rumor is that its coming to ORD on March 28th.
I'd go watch, but its mid week.
Indeed ... and I would be very suspicious as to the nature of the fix. Fixed for real or fixed on paper?
Why should it take 9 months to install cabin equipment?
The fact that it takes them so very, very long to redesign and reroute wiring might lead one to conclude that either (a) the airplane could be a bit "under-engineered" or (b) perhaps there could be some much larger issues with the aircraft (wing strength, fuel efficiency...) that somehow escape public mention.
Aluminum and copper don't connect well, they tend to cause fires.
That, and also to corrode, n'est ce pas?
Some serious chemical reactions. That's why aluminum wiring was outlawed in homes years ago. Spontaneous combustion...
See all of the red wires?
The proposed French solution to the weight issue was to remove all the red wires.
Probably several reasons.
The first one that comes to mind is they take the month of August off, so now we're down to eight months.
If the Brits were smart, they would kiss Airbus goodbye. Be the first rat off the sinking ship, not the last.
My fearless prediction: The A350XWB will never fly. It is vaporware.
The Brits should work on re-developing their own independent aerospace industry. There is a lot of money to be made on short haul/moderately sized aircraft.
Here's a plan. Boeing should buy out Airbus' operations in the UK lock, stock and barrel. They can then use the facilities to build the next generation 737.
I've always wondered if that couldn't have been averted by the simple expedient of electroplating a copper surface onto aluminum wire.Considering that for electical uses copper is nomally refined by electrolysis anyway (a process that pays for itself in the value of recovered "impurities" which include silver), that wouldn't seem to necessisarily have been particularly expensive . . .
"It's only software...what could possibly go wrong?"
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